GOOD  KING  WENCESLAS 


GOOD  KING 
WENCESLAS 

ACSRDLWR1TTEN 
BYDRNEALEPIC 
TURESBYARTHUR 
GASKINWITHXN 
INTRODUCTION  BY 
WILLIAM  MORRIS 

HINCHAMMA.SSACHUSEITS 
MCM-rv 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

jHE  POEM  HERE 
[illustrated  by  Mr. 
[Gaskin's  beautiful 
ipidtures  was  written 
to  suit  a  Mediaeval 
•  tune  by  Dr.  John  Ma" 
son  Neale,  who  was  one  of  the  lead" 
ers  in  the  early  days  of  the  Ritualistic 
movement.  Dr.  Neale  was  a  repre- 
sentative  of  a  side  of  the  movement, 
which,  unless  I  am  mistaken  has  al* 
moSt  died  out  as  a  special  charadter* 
iStic  of  Ritualism— the  historical  side 


to  wit.  This  has  happened  I  think  be* 
cause  of  the  growth  amongst  think* 
ing  people  generally  of  a  sense  of  the 
importance  of  Mediae  val  history,  and 
of  the  increasing  knowledge  that  the 
ecclesiastical  part  of  it  cannot  be  dis* 
sociated  from  its  civil  &  popular  parts. 
Mediaeval  history  in  all  its  detail, 
with  all  its  enthusiasms,  legends,  and 
superstitions,  is  now  cultivated  by 
many  who  have  no  ecclesiastical  bias 
as  a  portion  of  the  great  progress  of 
the  life  of  man  on  the  earth,  the  dis* 
covery  of  which  as  an  unbroken 
chain  belongs  almost  entirely  to  our 
own  days.  But  to  Dr.  Neale  muSt  be 
6 


awarded  the  honour  of  being  the 
chief  figure  of  the  history  lovers,  or 
shall  we  say  the  Medievalists  in  the 
movement  in  question,  and  the  poem 
before  us  is  a  good  specimen  of  his 
manner  &  its  limitations.  The  legend 
itself  is  pleasing  and  a  genuine  one, 
and  the  Chri^tmas'like  quality  of  it, 
recalling  the  times  of  my  boyhood, 
appeals  to  me  at  lea^t  as  a  happy  mem* 
ory  of  paydays. 

As  this  preface  is  a  part  of  the  book 
and  not  a  criticism  of  it  as  a  work  of 
art  I  mu^l  not  say  much  of  the  merits 
of  the  pidtures  done  by  my  friend  Mr. 
Gaskin;  but  I  cannot  help  saying  that 
b  7 


they  have  given  me  very  much  pleas* 
ure,  both  as  achievements  in  them* 
selves  and  as  giving  hopes  of  a  turn 
towards  the  ornamental  side  of  illus* 
tration,  which  is  mo^t  desirable. 

WILLIAM  MORRIS. 

September  1894. 


GOOD  KING  WENCESLAS 


GOOD  KING  WENCESLAS 

OOD  KING  WENCESLAS 

LOOK'D  OUT 

ON  THE  FEAST  OF 

STEPHEN, 
WHEN  THE  SNOW  LAY 
ROUND  ABOUT, 
DEEP,  AND  CRISP,  AND  EVEN. 
BRIGHTLY  SHONE  THE 
MOON  THAT  NIGHT, 
THOUGH  THE  FROST 
WAS  CRUEL, 

WHEN  A  POOR  MAN  CAME 
IN  SIGHT 

GATH'RING  WINTER  FUEL. 
ii 


HITHER,  PAGE  &  STAND  BY  ME 
IF  THOU  KNOW'ST  IT, 
TELLING, 

YONDER  PEASANT, 
WHO  IS  HE? 
WHERE,  AND  WHAT 
HIS  DWELLING?"  " 
"SIRE,  HE  LIVES  A  GOOD 
LEAGUE  HENCE, 
UNDERNEATH  THE 
MOUNTAIN: 
RIGHT  AGAINST  THE 
FOREST  FENCE, 
BY  SAINT  AGNES'  FOUNTAIN." 


J3 


BRING  ME  FLESH,  AND 
BRING  ME  WINE, 
BRING  ME  PINE-LOGS 
HITHER: 

THOU  AND  I  WILL  SEE 
HIM  DINE 

WHEN  WE  BEAR  THEM 
THITHER." 

PAGE  AND  MONARCH, 
FORTH  THEY  WENT, 
FORTH  THEY  WENT 
TOGETHER; 
THROUGH  THE  RUDE 
WINDS  LOUD  LAMENT 
AND  THE  BITTER  WEATHER. 


SIRE  THE  NIGHT  IS 
DARKER  NOW, 
AND  THE  WIND  BLOWS 
STRONGER; 

FAILS  MY  HEART,  I  KNOW 
NOT  HOW. 

I  CAN  GO  NO  LONGER." 
"MARK  MY  FOOTSTEPS, 
MY  GOOD  PAGE, 
TREAD  THOU  IN  THEM 
BOLDLY; 

THOU  SHALT  FIND  THE 
WINTER  WIND 
FREEZE  THY  BLOOD 
LESS  COLDLY." 


l7 


IN  HIS  MASTER'S  STEPS 

1  HE  TROD, 

WHERE  THE  SNOW  LAY 

DINTED; 

HEATWASINTHEVERYSOD 

WHICH  THE  SAINT 

HAD  PRINTED. 

THEREFORE,  CHRISTIAN 

MEN,  BE  SURE 

WEALTH  OR  RANK 

POSSESSING, 

YE  WHO  NOW  WILL  BLESS 

THE  POOR, 

SHALL  YOURSELVES 

FIND  BLESSING. 


*9 


Reprinted  from  the  edition  issued  by 
Cornish  Brothers.  Double  border  and 
title  from  drawings  by  Will  Dwig* 
gins.One  hundred  eighty-five  copies 
printed  by  hand  at  the  Village  Press, 
Hingham,  Massachusetts,  by  Fred  & 
Bertha  Goudy,  and  finished  the  19th 
day  of  November,  1904. 


www  * 


MSS 
1 9  o4n 


BENDER 
COLL 


